1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to patient transportation, and more particularly to backboard lifting devices.
2. Related Art
Emergency medical personnel, such as paramedics with ambulance services or fire departments, commonly transport victims or patients from an accident scene to a hospital. Backboards are commonly used to immobilize the spine of the patient during transport. Such backboards are typically flat, stiff boards that are sized to carry patients in a prone or supine position. Usually, these backboards have handles or handholds located around the periphery of the board. Thus, in use, a patient lies on the board and medical personnel lift the board with the patient to place them on a stretcher or gurney.
Because backboards are generally flat and only a few inches tall, lifting the board usually requires medical personnel to bend over, or squat down, near the board in order to grasp the handles of the board. Lifting a substantial load, such as a patient, from a bent or squatting position puts tremendous strain and loading on the back of the lifting personnel. Additionally, backboards often only need to be lifted to the height of a lowered gurney, or approximately eighteen inches, so that the gurney can be slid under the backboard to carry the patient.
Lifting a backboard to this height does not allow the medical personnel lifting the backboard to completely straighten up, but instead requires the lifter to remain in a bent or semi-bent position while sustaining the load of the patient until a gurney is placed under the backboard. Sustaining such a load in a bent position increases the strain on the lifters back and can result in injury to the lifter. Furthermore, medical personnel lifting in such a manner can become unstable or lose their balance and cause further injury to the patient.